The Week

Published on May 20, 2002.

Lands' End will appear in Sears ads

If its $1.9 billion deal to acquire catalog giant Lands' End goes through next month as planned, Sears, Roebuck & Co. will launch a branding campaign for its new fall line of apparel, said an executive familiar with the situation. Lands' End products also will be included in the "Sears: Where else?" branding campaign. Currently, WPP Group's Y&R Advertising, Chicago, is agency for Sears' soft-lines brands, while sibling agency Ogilvy & Mather, Chicago and New York, primarily handles hard-line products. Element 79, an Omnicom Group shop, currently handles Lands' End advertising. Lands' End, meanwhile, last week reported a sales increase of 9.6% for its first quarter ended May 3, boosted particularly by a 46.3% increase in Internet sales. AdAge.com QwikFIND aan50r

Simon backs McD's pact

Embattled promotions agency Simon Worldwide is backing a settlement agreement reached by McDonald's Corp. in a class-action lawsuit stemming from last year's multimillion-dollar sweepstakes promotions scandal. According to a May 13 filing by Simon with the Securities and Exchange Commission, McDonald's on or about April 19 settled a consumer class-action suit related to the scheme masterminded by a former Simon employee. Pending the decision of one other class-action case, the monies will be funded by Simon's liability insurance, the document said. Meanwhile, suits filed between Simon and McDonald's are ongoing, as is a suit Simon filed last month against independent accounting firm Pricewaterhouse-Coopers and two other accounting firms for failing to protect the security of the burger chain's promotions. AdAge.com QwikFIND aan50w

Red Fusion is a Pepper too

Cadbury Schweppes' Dr Pepper/Seven Up will break work for its Red Fusion by early September as it attempts to grab share of stomach along with new offerings from PepsiCo's Pepsi- Cola North America's Pepsi Blue as well as Coca-Cola Co.'s Vanilla Coke. Red Fusion advertising from WPP's Y&R Advertising, New York, includes TV, outdoor and radio. The Dr Pepper brand extension, aimed at 12- to 24-year-olds, hits shelves July 15. Y&R handles advertising for Dr Pepper as well as 7 Up. AdAge.com QwikFIND aan50p

Panoramic looks at some of its options

Panoramic Communications may sell or agree to management buyouts to protect the futures of its key agencies after Swiss majority owner PubliGroupe cut off financing for the 50.5%-owned unit after posting a 2001 net loss of $117 million (AA, May 13). "They have come to the strategic point of view that they're no longer interested in being in the ad-agency business long term, so they have decided upon an exit strategy," said Panoramic CEO Mary Baglivo. Last month, management at R.J. Palmer bought the media buying shop back from Panoramic. Panoramic owns ad agency EPB Communications, New York, and Yesawich, Pepperdine & Brown, Orlando. Ms. Baglivo was quick to note that EPB hasn't lost a client and Yesawich has had a solid year despite the travel industry crash and terrorism. Ms. Baglivo conceded that the future of the 18-month-old holding company is cloudy. "It's likely Panoramic won't exist in its current configuration in the future, but the business units will likely have a strong and robust future," she said. AdAge.com QwikFIND aan50j

IAA Beirut meeting draws few attendees

The international Advertising Association's 38th World Advertising Congress will be held in Beirut between May 21 and 24, but because of the Middle East location, the only American attending from the U.S. is the IAA's own director general, Wally O'Brien. To plug holes in the program, the IAA hopes to get three speakers to do presentations by satellite link, including Jim Stengel, global marketing director at Procter & Gamble Co. The American delegation shrank to nothing after the killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in Pakistan and other conflicts in the Middle East. Most of the 750 expected IAA attendees are from the Middle East, plus a large delegation from China, the host country for the next Congress.

FYI...

Yum brands' Taco Bell Corp. upped its sponsorship in Walt Disney Co.'s ESPN's X Games with a two-year deal, beginning with the summer 2002 event and continuing through the 2004 Winter X Games AdAge.com QwikFIND aan50q. ... The big winner at May 14's Magazine Publishers of America's 21st Annual Kelly Awards, given for excellence in magazine advertising, was Interpublic Group of Cos.' Carmichael Lynch, Minneapolis. The agency took home the $100,000 Grand Prize for its Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Campaign. In doing so it beat out Portland's Wieden & Kennedy's "Storm" campaign for Nike, which took the Gold Kelly, and Omnicom Group's DDB, Dallas' take on the iconic labels of McIlhenny Co.'s Tabasco, which was awarded the Silver Kelly. Carmichael Lynch led the pack with five nominations. Wieden & Kennedy claimed three nominations, as did Havas Advertising's Arnold Worldwide, Boston. ... Private and by-invitation-only memorial tributes for late adman Jay Chiat have been scheduled in New York City later this month and in Los Angeles in June. More information is available by contacting jay.memorial@chiatday.com. ... Major League Baseball severed its ties with embattled accounting firm Arthur Andersen in favor of Deloitte & Touche as the lead auditor on its Authentication Program. The program distinguishes official Major League Baseball memorabilia from other items on the market. Deloitte & Touche will have a representative at every MLB game to witness authorized autograph signings as well as the removal of game-used items such as historic home-run balls. Ernst & Young serves as MLB's internal auditor. Arthur Andersen has lost more than 330 clients since the Enron scandal. ... Tim Spengler, exec VP-director of national broadcast for Interpublic's Initiative Media North America, Los Angeles, will move to New York to take over all of the media agency's national broadcast business. AdAge.com QwikFIND aan50m